The Love They Left Behind
by fireicegirl16
Summary: Corey was in love before but she had ripped out his heart when she left. He vows to forget her and never fall in love again. But when he and his friends get into a crash, he sees her again and the emotions rise like a storm as he questions everything he knew about her. She's the only one who can help them escape from the Nasts, but most importantly, help him heal his broken heart.
1. Prologue

**Her name is (ah-saw-ya.). Hope you guys enjoy this story. I personally liked Corey's character and felt that he needed a little loving, you know. SO, please review. The song is INNA "HOT" This song was one of my favorites. you can google the music video if you want.**

* * *

"Come on, babe, just one." The dark haired, big and burly guy said to the slim girl with honey brown hair falling down in soft loose curls who was standing in front of him where he was holding his phone, the camera ready for recording.

She hesitated. Not that she didn't want to. It just felt very...intimate. It was ridiculous. It wasn't like they weren't intimate physically. It was just one time and they were both a nervous wreck and they kept fumbling but when they had found their rhythm, she enjoyed every minute of it.

The intimacy of it. The power of it. The love in it.

She loved him. She did. He was a wrestler and a boxer and it did wonders to his body. Sure, he liked to flirt with other girls, he teases her and everyone else and so on and yeah, it made her jealous and mad sometimes but she trusted him like he did her. He even told her he got jealous when other guys talked to her or were in her mock music videos as she sang and danced, helping her guy friend with his video.

It sent a little thrill of heat and pleasure in her body when he had told her that she was his and only his. She never imagined ever falling in love with him. But she did and didn't want this feeling to stop.

"I don't know." She murmured softly as they stood in her basement which was filled with CD's, DVD's, surrounding sound system, a green screen where her friend, Cal and her father had fixed it where she and Cal could do their videos. It felt more like a high tech recording studio than a basement.

She felt at home here but more so when her boyfriend was here, his arms surrounding, his scent enveloping her like wings. She felt safe and happy and at home when she was in his arms. She didn't care where she was because as long as she was in his arms and he didn't seem to mind.

"_Please._ You dance and sing in the talent show where all those guys look at you. You dance and sing for Cal and his videos. How about me this time? Just me." He said to her, looking at her, smiling that smile that made her knees tremble and her insides quiver.

She grabbed her elbow, biting her lip and he groaned softly. "You _know_ what does that me."

She let go of her lip, blood rushing to her cheeks. "Sorry."

He chuckled softly before placing down his phone and heading towards her, pulling her close to him, his forehead pressing against hers. She closed her eyes as the spark between sank deep into the marrows of bones, in her blood, through her veins, making her feel alive.

"You don't have to dance for me if you don't want to but I'd really like to have a video of my girlfriend dancing on my phone whenever I'm apart from you so I can watch you."

She blushed and hid her face in his chest, gripping his t-shirt in her fists, wrinkling the fabric. That was very sweet and she wanted to do something for him, something that would mean so much to him. He did lots of things for her. He bought her books that she loved, let her read to him even though he didn't like reading, he bought her a necklace with their initials engraved and the date where they first began dating, first in secret and recently in public.

He walked her to her classes and picked her up, dropping kisses that made her want to faint with the deliciousness of it. He walked her home all the time because he said, "_he had to protect her,_", he made her laugh when she was sad, he calmed her down when she was mad, he bought her ice cream when she had cramps, he bought soup to make her feel better when she was sick. He talked to her though the phone when she was in bed when she couldn't sleep but listening to his voice made her warm and fuzzy inside and the next thing she would know she would be asleep.

He sometimes sneaked into her bedroom when her parents were asleep and hold her until she slept where he would drop a kiss on her forehead before leaving out the way she came. She loved him and wanted to do something for him. Something that would show that she loved him like he loved her.

She pulled back and looked up at his face, every crook and nanny of his face that she had memorized. She knew his body inside and out, the muscles that rippled in his arms when he touched her body, making her make soft sounds of pleasure as he kissed her, knew the way he shivered, his stomach muscles contracting as she breathed down his neck, kissing and sucking that little spot that made him go crazy.

She knew his flaws but she didn't care. Because it was him. Always him. She removed one hand and cupped his cheeks, her thumb moving over the soft skin and he reached up to encircle her wrist with his hands, the electricity rushing into her hands and into her body.

She smiled up at him and saw the hope and soft lurking presence of desire in his eyes. She made her choice. She leaned up on her toes, since he was over six feet tall and she was only five foot seven inches, and pressed her lips near his ear where he tensed slightly before relaxing, his hold on her waist tightening.

"Yes," She murmured and she felt the excitement coming from him as he pulled back with wide eyes before they softened with appreciation and love.

"Thank you." He said before leaning down to kiss her, his hand leaving her wrist and going to her waist to pull her body to his as his lips moved over hers, teasing, trying to get her to open her mouth to let him in and she reached up to his shoulders before encircling his neck, pulling him closer to him as her mouth opened, enjoying the soft groan that he made in his throat. She smiled and they kissed until he pulled away, his breath coming a bit heavier than earlier.

He hugged her one last time before heading back to the couch and grabbing his phone to turn on the camera as she turned on the surround system, picking a song that she would sing to him. Just for him because he wasn't going to show it to anyone.

Absolutely no one. This would be just for him and he didn't want anyone seeing her in her jean shorts that showed her strong and tanned legs and loose tank top that fell of her shoulder whenever she made too much movement.

The speakers began to play the first notes and he frowned because he didn't know this song as he pressed record on his phone as she stood, already becoming that confident and strong women he knew insisde and out that she hid from everyone else but not him.

Never him.

"It's Romanian. Inna sings it."

"What's the title?"

"Hot."

He smirked and opened his mouth to say a remark about hot she was and that her hotness set him on fire but she shot him a glare and he shut up.

"Okay, ready?"

"Been ready." He said as he looked at her. He saw her close her eyes, could see her getting into the mood as the song began to play.

_"Fly like you do it, like you high, like you try, like a woman."_ He jumped slightly as the song blared out the lyrics and his girlfriend began to sing along. It was uncanny how his girlfriend could sing along with the artist and make it sound as if it were a part of the song.

_"You belong to me...I belong to you...Fire my heart. Burning just for you. When you're far away. I'm in love with you. Feeling that so high. What can I do?"_

He saw his girlfriend sing passionately, moving her body and locking it at the right moments when the song played a certain beat and unlocking it when the song called for it. He saw the way she closed her eyes as she sang, as if imagining the audience in his eyes as her body moved side to side like a graceful snake. She pointed her arms at him before locking them together and moving them to her shoulder and behind her neck to pull up her hair, her head turning to the side as her body popped and locked and moved as she sang.

He was so turned on yet so amazed at her ability to dance and sing, her imagination running wild in her body as the song played. He was speechless as she sang and danced. She was so moving as he followed the way her facial features moved from passionate to sad before turning to that sultry look that begged a man to come and touch her.

Hell, he was dying to but he was transfixed at the way she moved and sang. Almost hypnotized. And he loved every minute of it.

When she stopped and came back to herself, looking at him like he was the only thing in the world, he loved that feeling, loved that feeling every damn time and he smiled at her, pride shining through her eyes as she breathed heavily, sweat glistening softly on her skin that made blood rush down south and he moved his thighs together so it wouldn't show.

She smiled and launched herself at him just as he turned off the recorder and tossed his phone on the other side of the sofa as he automatically caught her.

She began rambling about whether or not he liked it, did she mess up, was it okay and he laughed and kissed her hungrily, murmuring that she was beautiful and wonderful and how he felt hypnotized and turned on at the same time. She blushed as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders as his body began to heat up with the familiarity of her soft curves and skin, body growing with excitement and desire.

She felt him and her faced turned darker as her eyes widened and her red mouth that was swollen opened with an O. He smiled, unashamed as he pulled her closer so she could feel him better and she had to bite her lip to stop the moan he could hear in her throat from leaving.

He didn't want that. He wanted to hear her. He wanted to know that he drove her crazy like she did him. He wanted her to know if she felt the energy between as he did. He wanted to know that he loved her, had been for quite some time since he first heard her sing and began to pursue her like crazy. He wanted to know that she would never leave him because he couldn't imagine his life without her.

Not at all.

He kissed her, his hips moving against hers slowly, gently, seeking permission to do the things they had done before that one time, where they gave themselves to each other in every way a man and woman could. She moaned softly as she snuggled deeper into him, the fire burning hot in his veins as her hips began to move with his.

He had to pull back, his heart pounding like a freight train, as he looked at her and tried to stop moving against her. She looked down at him, her honey eyes dark with desire and love. He didn't need to ask out loud what he wanted because he saw the answer in her eyes.

All she had to do was initiate contact between them again and they would be lost in each other. Which was exactly what she did but not before whispering the words that made his body fill up with warmth and affection.

"I love you, Corey Carling."

* * *

Corey woke up with a groan as the light hit his eyes as his forearm covered them. He hated this. He hated waking up with an ache in his heart that never seemed to get better, not after a month.

He hated this. Hated every minute of it and was so tired of irregular sleep, loss of appetite, the zombie-like trance that his friend Daniel told him whenever he came to visit.

"You have to stop this, Corey. It's not healthy," Daniel had said when he came over before.

"What the _fuck_ you expect me to do? Pretend everything's fine and dandy? Well, it's not and nothing is going to bring..." He couldn't even say her name because it sliced him up and he began to cry pathetically. Cry like a baby as Daniel let him, crying because dammit he missed her, missed her like a fucking drunk who misses his beer. He wanted her back. Wanted her in his arms, in his bed, in his fucking life and she wouldn't or couldn't.

He missed her. He felt like he lost a limb and couldn't know how to function without it.

"She's gone, Corey. She's been gone for a month." Daniel said and Corey's anger grew in him like a fuse.

"I _know_, dammit! Don't you _think_ I fucking know that she's gone? She didn't even say good-bye. She didn't even say good-bye..." He began to cry again, burying his face in his hands.

"It'll get better." Daniel said before leaving his home.

Corey doubted it then but now...

It'd been a month since he last her. Last kissed her, last smelled her hair that always made him think of the forest. It'd been a month since he last held her, since he last heard her voice, her laughter, last heard her say his name like he was goddamn king in her presence. One month since he last made love to her, missing those soft sounds of pleasure that he drew from her mouth as he moved with her, missing the way she clung to him and said his name over and over again, anchoring herself to him.

He sat up in bed, headache coming on and he knew he needed to take a pill but didn't have the heart to. Why had he done to her to make her leave? Why did she suddenly move away without telling him? Was she scared of a long-distance relationship? He could've tried to maintain a long distance relationship with her. He would've done anything for her. He would've sold his soul for her, kill for her so as long she never gave him up.

But he was _so_ tired of being confused and anger began to grow in his heart, darkening all the good things he was when met her, reverting back to his old self.

He loved her but he was so done with this pain in his heart. This grief that seemed to choke his heart. She changed her number, pulled down her page, she was like a ghost. She was gone.

Fine, she didn't want him. If she did, she would've found a way to contact him. She knew where he lived, knew his number, knew his page but no, she did nothing.

He was done mourning her. He would force himself to forget her the way she forgot him. He would throw away the pictures and love notes they had given each other. He would delete his videos and pictures on his phone and computer. He was going to erase her like she did him.

He was sick and tired of grieving for her when it was obvious she wasn't doing the same for him. He swore right then and there that he would never fall in love with another girl again. Not after her.

He was going to forget her, hooking up with other girls and going to parties, burying the memory of her deep in the darkest place of his mind and soul where cobwebs would grow over them.

He was done.

"Fuck you, Asaya."


	2. Corey 2

"Can you tell me _now?"_ She groaned as they continued, his hands covering her eyes, even though that didn't stop her from hearing and smelling where they were, which was a forest. No surprise there.

She had recently begun to notice certain changes in her body. Not outward. More like inside of her body. She noticed that her hearing, smelling and eyesight were becoming accurate, especially when feeling someone near her half a mile away. Corey had even complained that he could never got to scare her because she always knew he was there, no matter how hard he tried to hide. And what surprised her was not just the knowing of someone being there, but where.

Like right now.

She could hear the crunch of twigs and leaves as they walked, the swish of air of Corey's t-shirt touching his sweaty skin that smelled a mix of salt and his natural scent. She could hear the wind rustling their hair and clothes. She could hear his breathing, whether heaving or quiet, a small gush of wind that went in and out his nose.

She could hear the scurry of the squirrel that was 40 feet away from them, running up the tree, the clack of his nails clacking against the bark of the tree and jumping from a branch, the winding sounding like a whip as the squirrel did so.

She was even hearing the crack of a bird egg up in a tree in a nest that was 30 feet away. Her head kept turning to the sounds but Corey's hand blocked her eyes and therefore her hearing had kicked in to know her surroundings, the snap of twigs and the crunch of the leaves, the scent of Corey that seemed to linger inside his skin and came out in the slight sweat that was coming from his body.

"Okay, almost there." He whispered very quietly but she heard him perfectly as if he was several feet away. His breath tickled her neck and heat burst in her body at the sensation. She smiled and felt several scents teasing her nose as she wrinkled it. She could smell some type of food, something sweet covered in chocolate, the smell of a drink, the sweet liquid sitting softly inside the bottle. There was something waxy coming towards her and she couldn't place the scent.

She had to act surprised because she had a pretty good idea what Corey had planned.

"Okay..." She felt his excitement pump in his blood, the heat coming off of him that made her want to lean into him and never leave. The scents were stronger now and she kept wrinkling her nose to take it in. He removed his hands and she immediately opened her eyes, pupils dilating to take in the sight and she gasped because even though she could smell what was here, she couldn't see it.

A huge red blanket had covered a clean part of the forests, lit candles holding the corners, the wind whistling against the fire that crackled, all though she was the only one who could hear it. A brown picnic basket was sitting in the middle, a bottle of wine leaning into it and a bouquet of roses sitting on top of two plates and wine glasses.

Tears popped up in her eyes and she had to blink them away. She was not going to cry. No, not at all. She looked hideous when she cried. But dammit, this was the sweetest thing Corey had done for her.

"Happy Birthday, baby girl!" Corey said, bringing the bouquet of roses to her and he frowned as he saw the tears in her eyes. He seemed nervous all of a sudden and he looked worried.

"Is it okay? I mean, I know you say you don't like parties and whatnot so I-" She didn't let him finish. He was 10 feet away and she had jumped from where she was standing and tackled him into the ground, her lips kissing his hard and desperately as she clung to him.

He was stunned at first but relaxed as he kissed her back, his arms going around her back and waist pushing her closer to him, the roses touching her hair. He felt her move her knees to either side of his hip and she moved away from his lips to sit up on him, his heart racing from exhilaration and excitement of touching her body and kissing her.

She smiled, eyes watery and with one hand, he cupped her cheek and moved his thumb back and forth, wiping away the tears.

"I love it! I love it so much! I love you! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She said before attacking his lips and neck. He chuckled and hugged her, kissing her behind her ear and blowing into her ear because he knew for a fact that it made her crazy with want and need and he liked to see the way her body broke out in goosebumps when he did so, running his hands up and down her arms as he did so.

She shivered against his body, just like he expected and sat up on him, her hands on his chest, her groin over his and he dropped the roses, placing his hands on her hips as she smiled up at him, her honey colored eyes shining with love and appreciation.

"Happy sixteenth birthday, baby." He murmured, smiling up at her and she smiled wider, leaning down slowly to kiss him again, this time more slowly, lovingly, and he rubbed his hands up and down her back, lingering near her hips.

"Thank you," She murmured against his lips and he just hummed in appreciation and he squeezed her gently, causing her to giggle. He had his eyes closed but opened them when she got off of him and headed to the basket, holding the roses as she did so.

He shook his head, chuckling. Typical. His girl could eat a mountain and stay skinny. It was sexy as hell though, to see his girlfriend digging into food like a man and have no embarrassment about it like other girls. She was one of a kind.

"Leave some for me, Asaya." He said as he got up and headed towards her, sitting behind her as she kneeled and dug through the basket, already eating the strawberry that were covered in chocolate and taking out the angel food caked he had to buy because he sucked at cooking but tried for her. Only her.

"Nope, it's my birthday. I get to eat anything I want and do anything I want." She said as she turned her head to him, leaning back and clutching the roses to her chest. He felt his heart squeeze and knew that he was in love with and would always will be.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and chest, pulling her to him and she sighed in contentment. He liked this. This feeling of peace and tranquility. She was the only who could do this to him. Make him him calm and less stressed. Daniel said he was whipped but Corey just smiled.

So what if he was whipped? She was worth it. He would do anything for her. Die to protect her. Kill to protect her. Do anything for her. He wanted her happy, smiling that smile at him that felt a punch to his gut. He would do anything to make sure that smile stayed on her face and that he was the one who made her smile like that. If that's all he ever did, then so be it.

He wanted her in his life forever and then some. He couldn't get enough of her.

"I love you, Asaya." He murmured, placing his lips tenderly in her neck and inhaling her scent that was a mix of forest and something sweet.

With one hand, she cupped his cheek and turned his face towards her and she smiled. "I love you more, Corey."

They stared at each other, the love flowing between and around them as she let her fingers caress his cheek and he leaned into her skin, so smooth, like satin and she pressed against his cheek, her signal for a kiss and she turned her head more, still kneeling, her back against his chest and he smiled, leaning down to kiss her tenderly, lovingly, sweetly and knew he could never let her go.

Not ever.

* * *

**2 years later**

It was Maya's birthday and Corey and the gang had just finished her birthday present. Corey was the one who came up with the idea of leaving papayas on the ground for Maya to follow to her birthday present.

He knew Maya would love the cliff after everyone worked on it. He couldn't help but think that Asaya would've enjoyed watching him work on it.

_Stop, she's gone. Forget her._

And he buried the fuzzy memory of her away to the back of his mind where slips of her memories seemed to pop up in him at random times for the past two years and he buried it as fast as he could. He would not think about her. Not anymore. He hated her for what she had done and he would never forgive her for that.

"Oh my god," He heard Maya whisper and Daniel, his best friend, came out from the trees.

"You like?" He said.

She ran over and threw her arms around his neck. Corey felt that pang of ache in his heart but shoved it away.

_No more._

"I think that's a yes."

"Hey, we helped, too." Brendan Hajek said and everyone began to talk amongst themselves until Corey decided to challenge Maya and told everyone what the price was.

They raced but Maya, as usual was faster and Corey felt the joy in his body whenever he hung with his friends, not worrying about thing, not thinking about her.

This was what mattered. Not the past. The present. But he still couldn't shake that feeling of something missing whenever they hung out as group. He'd find himself looking to side, his arm automatically moving to hug someone, a someone that was no longer there. When he had made his decision about forgetting her, he meant it.

People wanted to talk about her but he refused to talk about her, he was going to pretend he had no idea what they were talking about.  
Eventually people got the idea and as time passed, they seemed to forget her and he acted like nothing was wrong even though he felt a sense of betrayal in his heart but he refused to acknowledge it.

He was done with her.

So done.

Maya began talking about the reporter and Corey elbowed Brendan saying, "She was kind of cute."

Which it was but in his heart, she wasn't _her._

He had to stop thinking about her. It just pissed him off the more when thoughts of her came up. Another thing that she left to haunt him.

After a while, they started the party and Corey took out the booze, intending to make it fun, but more to forget about things that he didn't want to think about. Hayley Morris then began flirting with him and he was pretty buzzed up. He didn't mind making out with her whenever there was a party. She was a good kisser and it made him forget about things temporarily, even if his body made the, "This isn't right," signal but he had learned to ignore that.  
He began to ignore a lot of things.

"Wanna go somewhere?" She asked, batting her eyelashes at him and Corey had to admit, she was pretty and ignoring the way his body yelled at him to stop, he followed her to the back TV room and before he could close the door, she had pushed him on the couch, lips attacking his, tongue entering his mouth as they fell and she straddled him.

There was always this moment of hesitation of kissing but he pushed on, wanting to forget about her in another's body. Even if it was Hayley.  
He kissed her, his hands moving to her shirt, slipping inside to touch her and hear her moan that had his body stirring. She yanked off his shirt and ran her hands up and down his chest in a way that felt like deja vu but Corey ignored it.

Hayley was _not_ Asaya.

She would never _be_ Asaya and he seemed to slow down but Hayley murmured what was wrong and began kissing him. He touched her breasts, feeling her gasp out a moan and he groaned obligatory when she moved closer to him.

But it wasn't working. His body was saying,_ "No, stop, stop this."_

His heart was pounding with indecision and he didn't know what to do. He always felt okay when making out with another girl because he wanted to forget. To always forget but it felt like someone else was taking over. He wanted to stop but didn't know and wasn't sure if he wanted to.

Hayley was good at kissing but nothing like Asaya.

_Stop thinking about her!_

He kissed Hayley harder, trying to ignore the images running through his head where Asaya was running her hands up his chest as she lay underneath him, looking up at him with flushed cheeks, her honey brown hair surrounding his pillow like a halo.

_Trying_ to forget the way his mind seemed to change Hayley into Asaya, trying to forget the way Hayley felt and sounded like, so much more rougher and harsher than Asaya was.

He had to stop this ache of pain and anger in his chest and he needed to Hayley to do it for him. He started to get rougher with Hayley, running his hands roughly over her back and stomach, something he had done to Asaya.

He treated Asaya like a damn queen, always considerate and slow going with her as they reached the levels necessary in their relationship. He had to stop doing this. Had to stop comparing Hayley with Asaya.

_Had_ to.

Rougher. Faster. Trying to burn those images of Asaya, laughing, smiling, sighing, joking, loving him.

_STOP. STOP. STOP._

_"Corey..."_

_Asaya?_ No, this was Hayley. Asaya was gone, had been for two years. But why did he hear her voice at random times? Her laughter ringing in the halls of Salmon Creek High? Why? He buried her in the deep recesses of his mind but she always found a way to sneak up on him when he least expected.

_Asaya. Hayley. Asaya. Asaya. No, Hayley_. _This_ was Hayley. Asaya felt more softer, warmer, gentle but Hayley was fast and demanding. The way he used to like it before Asaya came. The way he _should_ like it.

_Yes, Asaya. No, no Hayley._

_Agh!_ He was so confused. His mind rebelling, pulling him to two different parts, one in the past and one in the present. He kissed her harder now, wanting to lose himself in her, trying to forget those images that made his heart ache and burn.

She moaned as she moved with him, her pleasure sparking. This was wrong, so, so wrong but acceptable. Yes, wrong but acceptable and yet...

_"Corey..."_

_That_ voice.

_Asaya._

_Yes, Asaya. You're here. I missed you._

_No, Hayley. No, Asaya. No, no, no._

Who was who? Hayley was here, no she wasn't, Asaya was.

_No!_ _She's gone._ _Hayley, she's here_. _Hang on to her harder, kiss her harder, touch her faster, to know, know the difference._

This body was so different from Asaya but it had been two years.

_She's changed._

_No, Hayley, this is Hayley._

What was going on?

He heard the door open and Hayley jumped off of him, yanking down her shirt as Rafe said, "Hey Hayley. Corey."

"You bitch! You scheming little-" Maya closed the door fast as Hayley began cursing her out.

"Thanks guys!" Corey had yelled. They probably thought he was being sarcastic because they had ruined his make out session with Hayley, which felt more like a battle going on.

He didn't know why he was grateful for the interruption but he was so confused and angry at himself, Asaya, hell, even Hayley for this confusion. How could he confuse the both of them when they were so different? Hayley felt more aggressive while Asaya was more passive, accepting, going where he wanted to.

No, stop thinking about her. She's not here. Hayley is. Oh god, his head was hurting, his emotions swirling like a tornado inside, tearing him apart molecule by molecule.

_Asaya, Asaya, Asaya._

Her name. Her name that meant so much yet hurt so bad. He had to stop. Stop. Lose himself in Hayley, force his heart to forget her even after two years and his heart refused to ignore the pang of longing whenever Asaya popped up in his mind.

He hated Asaya for doing this him, causing him hell and pain and forcing him take it out on other girls by kissing them and so on.

Why? Why? Why did he have to fall in love? Why? If he knew what was going to happen, he would have never pursued her like a dog for a bone. He would've kept on walking past the slightly open classroom door where her voice was trailing out into the hallway and enticing him to come in. He would've...could've...should've.

But it was too late.

He was still in love with the bitch and he both hated and loved it. What the fuck was wrong with him?

Commotion caused him to leave the room after Hayley where he saw a livid Daniel looking at Rafael who was on the ground with Sam looking at him angrily.

He forgot about the commotion in his heart and the confusion he had suffered during his make out with Hayley that seemed to be getting worse. He saw Maya on the ground, who looked lost and confused and drunk and he caught Maya as she jerked forward and he held her arm.

But Maya legs gave way and Corey struggled to catch her as Daniel ran towards them. Forcing thoughts and emotions of Asaya away, he focused on a passed out Maya.

* * *

**Thank you for reading and please review!**


	3. Corey 3

The entire place knew about the fire threat and when he heard about it, he automatically thought about Asaya and wanted to warn her about it. He had already begun to push the numbers he knew by heart and could not even get that stupid number out of his system.

Once he realized he was pushing her number, he tossed his phone onto the bed and ran his hands angrily through his hair, wanting to rip something apart, the anger and grief and pain beginning to swirl inside his body but he shot it down.

He had to or he would lose his mind. He already lost his heart. He couldn't afford to lose his mind also. His eyes darted to his closet and he felt his heart give a pitiful yes and he debated whether to go in or ignore the pull there. After much, much deliberation, he stood up, almost shakily and headed to the closet as if he were heading to his tomb.

His hands began to sweat as he gripped the knob to his closet, his heart pounding with fear, pain, hesitant joy, all of them swirling around faster and faster until it threatened to break him. He didn't know what to do or even if he should do something but somewhere in his brain, there was someone that made his decision for him.

The door in his closet opened by his own hand but he felt like he was out of his body, watching himself go through the motions. He watched himself walk carefully into the closet, looking up at the shelf above his clothes, wondering, waiting. He saw himself reach up and move aside the clothes covering the one thing that had haunted him for two years now.

He saw himself pull the small black box and saw his hands shake as he held it in front of him, dust and webs covering the box. He stood there for a long time before sitting on the floor where a mess of clothes and shoes were tossed carelessly into the closet because he couldn't stand to be in there for more than a second because he wanted to forget, to forget about the pain, the memory of her.

He saw himself gingerly blew the dust and web away, sneezing once as it hit the air and it felt like a momentous occasion when he place his hand on the lid, wondering if the end of the world would happen if he did so or if he didn't open the box. He didn't know how long he saw himself sitting on the ground, the black box on his lap, one hand on the lid, waiting for the world to end or explode or something if he opened the door.

He opened it then, again that force driving him to do the things he was too weak to do. Opening the box, he held his breath and when the world didn't end, he let out his breath. The box let out stale air since it had not been opened in two year and Corey looked in, acting as if a poisonous snake was lying in wait, which for him, could have been.

His hand reached in slowly, only one piece of a photograph sitting face down and he touched the edge, wondering if it would burn his hand but found nothing except a very light sense of warmth touch his fingertips as he lifted it up and set aside the box. He hesitated once again to flip the picture so he could see it.

He saw himself trembling, holding back the emotions that threatened to eat him alive and he had to close his eyes, screwing them shut so he wouldn't see. So he wouldn't know. So he could pretend everything was okay. But it wasn't.

This pain and heartache and longing in his body, in his heart never seemed to leave him. Not ever. Because she was real. She would always be real no matter what the fuck he did or who he did it with. She just fucking never seemed to leave him alone.

She haunted him day and night and he was torn between hating her and loving her. And he didn't know which one hurt more. All he knew was that it hurt, it always hurt. No matter how many beers he dank, no matter how many girls he kissed, no matter what he did. She just seemed to be intent on hanging around him like a shadow.

A shadow that left and always came back, following you no matter how hard you ran or how small you tired to hide yourself. It would always be there.

_She_ would always be there.

Blowing out a frustrated sigh and flipped the picture over. He felt the air leave out of his body, as if someone punched the living daylights out of his guts. Right there, in that picture, was _her. _With him. Together.

He was there. Behind her, arms wrapped around her chest and shoulders, her hands hanging onto his forearms, her hair pulled to the side, tickling his forearms. She was smiling. Smiling like she won the damn lottery.

And he was smiling, half at her and half at the camera. He didn't remember who took the picture, he was too engrossed in _her_ The woman he loved.

His heart ached and throbbed. As if he had been burned by fire. He saw the look on each of their faces. A look he hadn't seen in two years.

Maybe perhaps Daniel.

Who was in love with Maya. And she had no fucking clue about it.

But this look, this joyful, love filled gaze they both had seemed to knock his heart back and forth like a pendulum. This was a look of two people who loved each other and were stuck in their own little world. He saw himself in that picture, younger of course but that look, that _love_, was there, was still there somewhere in his black heart.

He traced her face, her full cheekbones, the shape of eyes, the plumpness of her rose lips. He traced each feature like glass, his mind going to that place he had forbidden himself to go when he was awake. That place where he was on top of her, both of them sweaty and out of breath as he traced her face with his fingers, and then his lips, whispering words of love and desire to her, watching her eyes fill with joy and desire, her hands tracing his body and face before they joined as one.

He knew her so well. Not just physically but emotionally, mentally. He knew her faults and strengths, her fears and worries, her pleasure and joy. Knew everything about her and she knew him.

Which is why she left him. Left him a broken, bitter boy who grew up without her for two years, drowning his pain and grief in beer and girls. Which is why she was the only one who could break him and she did.

And he fucking hated her for that.

_"Why?"_ He murmured, his anger breaking through and his fingers crinkling the picture and he hated that he cared, hated she was smiling as if she would never leave him and break everything good inside him.

Everything good he tried to be for her and that still wasn't enough for her. Because she still left. And he was waiting for her like she asked him to near the forest by the small creek, where they first kissed. He waited like a fucking slave and when she didn't show up, he went to look for her.

Wondering if she was okay, calling her number that went straight to voice mail which was fucking strange because she always picked up his phone and when she was busy, she'll tell him she couldn't talk and hang up then call back.

But not this time. And he had begun to worry. God, if he only knew, he wouldn't have wasted his fucking time. But he didn't know, didn't know what was going to happen.

But he was a fool and he walked to her house, only to see her family's car driving down the street, followed by a black SUV. He was confused at first and called but no answer and the next day, when he finally figured it out, he was hurt and angry and in pain and began his descent into his heartbroken stage.

Why the fuck did she leave him? Why couldn't she have told him she was moving away? Was she scared? He could've done everything he could to make her worries diminish and make their relationship.

But she didn't give him a fucking chance. Not once and when he tired to find her, to contact her, he suddenly was angry, not just angry, murderously enraged and it took him a long time to control that anger and try to forget about her, losing himself in other girls.

But she was always fucking there.

"I hate you. _I fucking hate you_!" He yelled at the picture, trying to rip it but his hands seemed locked, unable or unwilling to follow his request.

He trembled, trying to force himself to rip that picture of the two of them, trying to get rid of that last piece of her existence but he just couldn't do it.

He just _couldn't._

And he broke down then, in that closet, cursing everything and everyone at once but specifically, _her._

The girl he loved.

And the girl he lost.

* * *

**Review please!**


	4. Corey 4

They were on the emergency helicopter evacuation and Hayley was talking to him but Corey wasn't listening. He felt numb, drained after everything that had happened earlier.

Crying out his soul for her. Getting taken to an emergency helicopter because the island was on fire. He only began to react when he heard Maya and the rest of them talking about a heart attack. He saw Nicole trying to scramble over Rafe but Corey pulled her back.

The pilot was yelling at them while Nicole said, "Maya can help. She knows first aid. She runs a hospital."

"For animals," Hayley said and he told her to shut up. This was a fucking serious situation and Hayley picks now to be a bitch?

Maya began to unbutton the mayor's shirt and the pilot snapped at Nicole and Corey, already angry and hurt from earlier, told the pilot to go to hell.

Commotion broke out and Daniel yelled out a No and the pilot slumped forward and crumpled in his seat. The helicopter dropped a few feet and they all stumbled. Corey ran over to help.

"Help me get him out!" He shouted to Daniel as he grabbed the pilot's jacket. "I can fly it."

At least he hoped. Based on video games and computer games. He had to do something or else they were going to fucking die in a helicopter crash and he sure as hell didn't want to die.

"Based on what?" Sam appeared at his side. "Video games?"

Corey scowled. He didn't have fucking time for Sam's sarcasm. "You got a better idea?"

"Yes."

He and the boys pulled the pilot out of the way and dumped him in the narrow gap behind the front seats. Sam slid into his spot, grabbed the throttle and the control stick, then planted her feet on both pedals. The helicopter stabilized and began to rise, but listed to one side.

"You have to get her level," Corey said.

"No, really?"

He gritted his teeth to stop a curse from leaving his mouth as he reached for the control stick. Sam swatted him aside.

"Do you know helicopters? Or just planes? Because they're not the same."

The helicopter leveled for a second, then started to spin. Maya started to call for help on the radio and the helicopter dropped again. Corey bent to look at the control panel and wanted to take control. Sam wasn't doing it right.

"You need to-"

"I'm working on it!" Sam snarled at him and he wanted to shake her off the damn thing.

"Here, let me-" He reached for the panel but touched something wrong but the helicopter pitched hard and sharp to the side as he fell onto the mayor, his body screaming in pain.

He heard Sam swore, her hands shaking as she reached for a lever. "Everyone sit down. Just sit down!"

Corey felt the helicopter lurch again as he struggle to gain balance. He heard Nicole shriek like a banshee and Hayley was right after her. He looked and panic grew in his chest like an icy snake.

"The door! Holy Hell. The door's open!"

There was so much commotion, people yelling as he saw Daniel grabbing Maya from her foot.

"Corey, get over here!" Daniel yelled at him, the panic and worry in his eyes as he hung onto Maya. Corey grabbed Maya's other foot as they began to shout about how they were going to drag her in when she was hanging onto Rafe and she was hanging outside the damn helicopter.

The helicopter spun and Corey lost his grip on her leg. He shouted out in panic along with Daniel and the rest of the girls. Corey managed to grab onto Maya's leg like a lifeline and together, he and Daniel dragged her inside the helicopter as Hayley closed the door. Maya was crying and shaking so hard, he thought she was going to fly into a million pieces.

Corey then felt his anger grow and he wheeled on Sam, yelling and berating her for her lack of skills in maneuvering a helicopter and she was fighting back, so fucking stubborn, like Asaya and that pissed him off even more. Daniel came and he and Sam began talking about trying to land the helicopter until Hayley screamed, "He burned me! Oh my god!"

The pilot yanked Sam out of the seat and sat in, trying to get the helicopter to stabilize but it hit the tree and everyone fell and tripped over the other.

"Holy hell!" Corey yelled as he looked to see a hole in the tail of the helicopter. The helicopter crashed into the water.

Daniel was ordering them to, "Get over here!"

Hayley passed out and Corey picked her up and when he did so, an image of Asaya in his arms popped when she had twisted her ankle when she stepped on a rock and he had carried her home bridal style the entire way, ashamed that he was thanking the rock that twisted her ankle so he could hold her, all of this before they had begun to date. He shook his head.

This was not the time to be emotional. Commotion broke out and Corey was confused until Nicole blurted out, "You're only saying that because Maya did. You always listen to her."

Everyone stopped and stared and Nicole was itching for a fight and Sam yelled at her to shut up until Corey decided to butt in because if he didn't, there would be more blood shredded on this damn helicopter before they were ever saved.

"Nic didn't mean it, guys. She just lost her dad." He knew how that felt. Unable to accept the truth, unwilling to accept, blaming other people.

"And I just lost my uncle." Sam said and Daniel tried to diffuse the situation but the helicopter groaned and began to tilt.

Daniel, Maya and Sam yanked the door open and the water rushed in. Corey went first, reaching land and dumping Hayley there as he heard Maya scream out her dog's name. He and Sam had to hold her back as Daniel jumped in and the dog jumped up. She ripped free from them and headed towards the dog.

He went back to check on Hayley and felt terror grab his chest in a icy hold. "It's Hayley! She's not breathing!"

He was frantic suddenly. He didn't want her to die and he didn't want blood on his hands. He didn't want it to be his fault. Maya stumbled to where he was crouched before her.

"I was sure she was breathing before," He said. He knew she was breathing. He just knew it. "I should have let you check. Damn it."

She was on her back in the long grass and her skin was tinged blue.

Oh god, what if she was dead? He couldn't take another pain and grief inside his heart when he was still grieving for her. He couldn't. He was going to have a mental breakdown if Hayley died. Daniel had to steer him away and sat him down like a baby, and told him to stay there.

Corey was so out of his mind with worry. She couldn't die. She couldn't. Sure, he didn't really like her but that didn't mean he wanted her to die. Oh god, Hayley had to be alive. She _had_ to be.

When he heard her cough, relief swamped his body like an avalanche and he collapsed back to the ground, unable to sit up anymore. The relief was too much. She wasn't dead. She wasn't dead.

* * *

Corey went to look for Daniel and Maya because the girls were starting to get on his nerves. They wanted someone to give the orders, someone to tell them what to do and that wasn't him. Not for two years now.

This whole damn situation was fucked up. The fire, the crash, the mayor and the pilot. My god, he was so weary and felt like he was hundred years old.

He caught Daniel and Maya hugging like the world depended on it. Envy grew in him but he smothered it. Now was not the time to wonder about Asaya or feel envious that Daniel had the girl he loved in his arms, even if said girl had absolutely no fucking clue. He didn't want to interrupt them because Daniel had loved Maya for years and Corey wanted him to have a chance.

But now was not the time for romance. Now was the time to plan and try to get off the island.

He cleared his throat and crouched when they turned to him. "I know this is a bad time, guys. I'm really sorry. But the girls-they're freaked out and they need someone to tell them what to do and...that's not me. They want one of you two. Daniel, I'll stay here with Maya if you can talk to them."

Maya wiped her sleeves over her eyes and said, "No, sitting here isn't going to help."

He nodded and led the way where Nicole and Hayley were huddled in the grass, looking over at the island to the west. They were shivering along with Sam, who was leaning against a tree.

"We're going to scout the island," Daniel said and no one offered to help. Corey could've but he felt that he was better here, he would probably just get fucking lost in the island. Daniel and Maya left and it felt like hours when they came back and told them what happened in the woods.

They started talking about the whole damn situation and when Daniel said, "Sam's right. The first people who come for us will likely be kidnappers. It'd be safer to get to a phone and call our parents."

They looked around and saw the huge amount of water standing between them and the island.

"Umm…" Corey began. "Not to question your judgment, buddy, but that's a bit of a swim. The water's damned cold. I bashed my knee good in the crash, and I'm not the only one who's hurting. I get what you're saying, but the pilot's radio seemed to be out, so they won't know where we are. If we light a fire, someone out boating might see us."

But that just set off events that led to him and Hayley arguing that they should stay put and causing Sam to be pissed at Nicole for silently agreeing. Daniel managed to convince them to swim for it and it was a complete fucking bust.

The water was too damn cold and his pills for his headaches disintegrated and the clothes were wet. Luckily, they managed to get out some of the fear and worry before heading inland to find shelter.

They hadn't walked very far, though, before Corey stopped as they were circling around an outcropping of rock.

"Is anyone seeing lights anywhere?" Corey said. "Because all I see is bushes. We need to get higher." He started scrambling up the rock pile.

_"Stop!"_ Maya said.

His foot slid and the leg he'd hurt in the crash buckled. His knee cracked against rock as he fell. He let out a yowl and a string of curses as fire burned his knee and throbbed. His jeans had split and underneath, his knee was bleeding. When Maya tried to touch it, he grabbed her hand.

"I need to check it out," She said.

He gritted his teeth at her touch because it hurt so bad. Maya then proceeded to wrap socks around his leg and found he could stand with effort and support.

"Figures," Corey muttered as the pain throbbed in his knee. "Survive a forest fire, helicopter crash, and killer eels, only to slip on a rock."

"That's what you get for trying to take charge," Hayley said.

"No kidding."

They made it to a grassy clearing, but Corey was in a lot of pain. His knee was throbbing too much and it hurt so much.

"Getting to a higher spot to look around is a good idea," Maya said after they sat him down. "We'll find a tree while you rest—"

"Whoa, wait." Corey started struggling to his feet, fear palpating in his body. "I'm okay. I'll be slow, but I can move."

"He doesn't want to be alone," Hayley said. "You know how he is. Leave him alone and he discovers he's not as much fun as he thinks he is."

Corey shot her the finger. This was not the time to talk about being alone.

"I'll stay with him," Nicole said.

Daniel nodded. "Hayley and Sam you guys should stay, too. Maya's going to be the one scaling a tree. Kenjii and I will stand point, but everyone else should rest. We won't go far. Plenty of trees nearby."

They left and Hayley and Nicole started talking about random shit as he tried to ignore the pain in his knee. Daniel, Maya and Sam came back and told them what was going on but that just started another fucking argument until Daniel, Maya and Sam decided to split up with them leaving and the rest with Corey.

But when a boat came and diver jumped in the water, Corey decided they had to be careful alongside with Hayley but Nicole wouldn't listen. She ran ahead and got shot and Corey felt the blood drain from his face while Hayley was saying, "oh god," over and over again.

They killed her. Oh shit, they killed her, they were screwed.

"Hayley, find the rest of them."

"But..." Hayley was stuttering and looked like she was going into shock. But dammit, they needed to warn the others.

_"Go! Now!_ Before we both die!" He harshly whispered and she ran and he hid himself in some bushes, listening to they divers and people from the boat talk. His heart was pounding with fear and adrenaline and he cursed his knee for being so fucking useless right now.

He hoped he would be safe but knew the chances of that were slim to none. He jumped when he heard someone say it's me and learned it was Maya and Daniel.

"You guys shouldn't have come back."

"We did. Now, shhh, before I regret it."

"Get the girl. She can sniff them out." One of them said and they both froze.

"Are you sure, sir? It's been..."

"I know how fucking long it's been. But she's the only one who has a fucking chance of sniffing them out and if she doesn't, well she knows better than to refuse." The guy said menacingly and Corey didn't like it one bit.

Maya wondered out lout who they were talking about and they looked back to see a man heading to the boat and dragging a blindfolded girl out of the boat roughly as she tripped and gritted her teeth.

Corey felt a pang of familiarity as he saw the girl being dragged across to the island and saw the anger in her body. Who was this girl?

"Ah, so nice of you to join us, Asaya."

Corey felt the world drop from his feet and his heart stop and his body go cold when he heard that name as Maya gasped.

It couldn't be. _It couldn't be._ The emotions were threatening to spill over and he was itching to go over there and demand to know if it really was her.

"Fuck you. Go rot in hell." The girl said and Corey felt his heart squeeze. He knew that voice and he couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe it.

"Shut up and sniff the kids out or you'll regret it." The man said as he yanked the blindfold off and Corey felt the air go out of his body.

It was _her._

It was _Asaya._

* * *

**Review Please!**


	5. Corey 5

"Shut up, Corey or they'll hear us!" Daniel harshly whispered as he covered Corey's mouth and had his arm wrapped around his body.

Corey was struggling like an animal to break apart and get to Asaya. He wanted to grab her and do so many things to her. Slap her, shake her, kiss her, yell at her for all these years. She was here. She was alive and he needed to get to her.

He didn't care if they heard. His heart was aching to get to Asaya, who had her arms pinned behind her back by another man. The string between them was yanking at him to go to her and he was fighting Daniel and Maya to get to her. They couldn't understand. They couldn't. Asaya. The girl he loved. The girl who left was right here being manhandled by these men.

He _had_ to get to her. He had to _know._

"Stop fighting us, Corey. She'll hear us."

_"I don't fucking care!"_ he yelled into Daniel's hand, he wanted her to hear him, he wanted her to come to him after so many months and years apart. His body was aching to touch her, yearning for her like a drunk for his beer. Memories were assaulting his brain of all their time together and he was so confused and worried and angry and so many other things that he had no hope of understanding.

Asaya was here. Just several feet away and Daniel and Maya were forbidding him to go to her. He couldn't feel anything, no pain or weaknesses, just the need, the _ache_ of getting to her and Daniel was struggling to hold him down while Maya was trying to calm Corey down.

But nothing would. Only her. _Always_ her. She was there. For his taking and he couldn't get to her.

"Sniff them out."

Asaya looked so much older and harsher and Corey wondered what had happened to her. Had they hurt her?

"No," She said, her voice tinged with anger and pain ringed out towards them and Corey felt his insides melt and squeeze. It really was her.

"Listen here, girl. Either you do this our way or the hard way."

"What fucking difference does it make? You took me from my home two years ago, stealing me from the guy I love and you've been torturing me ever since to give you information that I never fucking had." Her body was showing a fierce anger that Corey could practically smell from over there.

"Sniff them out!" The man yelled at her but she refused to budge until Corey saw the man raise his hand and slap her, the smack resonating all over them.

Rage exploded in his body as he saw her nearly topple over from the force until the guy yanked her back up, causing her cry out in pain and tears to fall down her reddening cheek. How dare he touch her? He had no fucking right! How dare he lay a hand on his Asaya?

He was going to _kill_ him!

Corey nearly yanked Daniel out to the ground and Daniel cursed as his hold tightened.

"Let me go! He's hurting her!" Corey yelled into Daniel's hand and he saw Asaya stiffen and turn her head, as if she could hear them perfectly which should have been impossible because they were so far away.

"What is it?" The man said, eagerly looking around. "Is it them?"

Corey saw Asaya begin to tremble and she was struggling with something, as if she was holding back.

"I don't have their scents. I would need something of theirs to pick up. It's been two years. I wouldn't know how they smell."

"Daniel..."

"I know," He said, responding to Maya like he knew what she was asking and he was so confused, because he didn't understand what was going on, why Asaya was talking about scents. The man gave a growl until he heard Asaya gasp and bend down, breathing hard and fast and Corey was suddenly worried if she was in pain.

"She's Changing. Inject her!" The man said as they began to drag her back but Asaya was gasping and struggling against their hold and Corey felt tears fall into his cheeks because they were taking her away, away from him, and his heart was being ripped apart as they dragged her to the boat.

He had to stop them. He had to stop them from taking her.

From taking her away from him again.

Daniel began dragging Corey back along with Maya who was saying they had to get out of here.

_No,_ he wanted to scream. _No, no, no-_

_"No!"_ They all froze as Asaya screamed and Corey felt ice fill his veins when he saw her body change, fur coming out of her skin, her face changing, her long hair shrinking back.

"Shit!" They heard the men yell and the guy who had her arms pinned back yelped and let her go, clutching his arm to his chest where blood was dripping onto the ground.

In the second it took for the men to reach her, Corey saw that Asaya, his Asaya had changed. She was no longer human, her voice changing into growls that sounded like a saw cutting through tree, she was on all fours and before he could blinked .

She was an animal.

A leopard.

A fucking_ leopard._

"Subdue her!"

She was an animal and Corey had stopped struggling because he couldn't understand. Couldn't comprehend.

Her golden fur was spotted in a large, widely space, rosette pattern and her big broad paws were on the ground, her long tail swishing from side to side as she growled menacingly towards the men who had slowed down as she showed opened her strong jaw, letting them see her pointed white teeth.

"Holy shit!" Daniel said as Maya stood stunned, staring at Asaya, no, the leopard who was Asaya, and Asaya crouched down low, her growls so deep and menacing, it raised the hair on Corey's arms in alarm and fear.

"What are you waiting for? Get her!" The man in charge yelled and they hesitated and it was in that hesitation that Asaya took her chance, leaped over them, a good ten feet over their head and ran into the forest at a speed so fast, she was a blur, where the man was cussing and kicking at the grass because he had lost the girl.

Corey sagged, unable to withstand such a nerve wracking day and let Daniel and Maya carry him away.

* * *

When they reached the others, they decided not to let the others know about Asaya. Corey just couldn't deal with that right now. So many questions and emotions were battling in his head.

What the hell had just happened? How was it that she had changed into a fucking animal before his eyes? What had happened to her in the two years they were apart? Had the men kidnapped her?

His head was pounding with the questions and he couldn't understand. His emotion felt raw and vulnerable as if someone had ripped a band aid of his wound and rubbed salt in them. They didn't talk much as they trampled through the trees, and Corey was wondering where she was, if she was okay, if she was hurt. Until the anger came and he started cursing at her for being so close yet so far, cursing at her for the pain she caused.

He was confused and hurt and his emotions were in a constant battle. Every time a bush or a twig crackled, everyone would turn around to see what it was and for Corey, hope bloomed in his chest, hoping with all his might that it was in fact Asaya who was following them, stalking them. Holy fuck, what if she was a complete animal? Unable to distinguish what was right or wrong? Wanting to hunt them and eat them?

But no, he refused to believe that. She had to have something human inside of her. She jumped over the men instead of going for their neck. She ran away to safety. She ran away and left him alone. He wondered if she even heard them in the bushes, Daniel and Maya struggling to pull him back before he made a mistake. She did turn in their direction, looking at them as if she knew they were there, if he was there.

Where was she?

Corey knew she would be safe, she was an animal and animals owned the forest and he hoped that she would be okay, hoped that she would find them when the time was right.

Hayley began complaining about how tired, hungry and cold she was and Corey snapped at Maya because he was tired of hearing about dehydration and hypothermia when there were so many worse things such as those men who had hurt Asaya, and Asaya who was alone and confused in a forest, in her animal form.

Daniel told him to stop and when they calmed down, he had apologized to Maya and she insisted on checking his knee and they continued on with Maya breaking rank to find out more up ahead and when she came back, she talked about a cabin and when they hurried after her, they found a stream and jumped in.

He had managed to forget for a second about everything around him until Maya said, "Cat," and they all turned to see Kenjii looking at the treetops. He didn't connect the dots at first and told Maya that her dog was acting weird until they heard a booming growl that made Hayley jump and Kenjii stiffen. Maya motioned them back, saying it was a cougar but something inside Corey told him it was something else. He looked up alongside Maya and saw that it was not a cougar but, in fact, a leopard.

A leopard he hoped would be Asaya. The leopard was high in a tree, stretched out on a sturdy branch. It peered down at them, her ears swiveling, the tail flicking back and forth like a pendulum.

"Get back," Maya said and Corey hesitated as the leopard growled again, standing up on the branch, lowering her head to peer at them and Corey felt his body stiffen until the eyes landed on his.

The honey colored eyes he dreamed about for two years now. He didn't hesitate as he began to go over to her. She was here, she wasn't going to hurt them.

"No, wait!" Daniel said, grabbing his arm and Corey struggled against him, looking at Maya.

"It's her, Maya. It's _her."_ He begged, his heart racing. Maya looked at him, frowning and confused.

"How are you so sure? It could be-"

"It's her. I know it, Maya. I _know_ it like I know my own dick." He was begging, frantic and urgent, emotions screaming and warring in his body. Maya looked at him then at the leopard then back again.

"We shouldn't get so close though." Maya warned and Corey felt the blood drain from his face. He knew it was Asaya. He knew it.

"But-"

"I believe you. Normal leopards wouldn't do this. They're masters at camouflage. We could've passed right through her if she hadn't growled."

"Maybe she knows who we are, who _I_ am. I can talk to her. Please, let me talk to her. It's her, I know it." Corey was looking at Asaya who was pacing along the branch, her tail swishing rapidly.

"Maya, let me talk to her. Maybe I can-"

"Something's wrong," Maya blurted out and Corey stopped trying to get to Asaya, who was pacing the branch too much, something he knew she did in human form when something was bothering her.

"What is it? Is she hurt? Please don't tell me she's hurt," Corey said, looking at Asaya for any injuries, any blood on her paws, flanks, or body but saw nothing. He was worried though. If she knew them, why hadn't she gotten down?

"I don't think so," Maya said as Daniel made his way to her. "Just...upset. Anxious."

"Maybe because we're in her way. She hasn't seen us in two years, we could be scaring her. I could-"

"That's not it. She-" Maya began but Asaya's ears swiveled and she looked sharply to the east.

"An ATV."

"Hallelujah," he said, finally relaxing. He could be safe now and he could get Asaya down from the tree and wait for her to change back and talk. "I never thought I'd be happy to hear one of those damned things."

Corey hobbled forward. "It's just over there. Heading this—"

The ATV headlight bobbed into view. Daniel shoved Corey to the ground, yelling "Down!" to the rest of the gang.

"What the hell?" Corey whispered.

"Have you forgotten the last time someone ran toward rescuers?" Sam hissed. "Nicole?"

Hayley paled and flattened herself against the ground.

"That was on the other side of the hill," Corey said. "How would they even know to look for us here?"

But something struck a chord in Corey as he wondered about the way Asaya was pacing on the branch and when Daniel, it was confirmed.

"They had ATVs before," Daniel said. "If they're the same guys, they've had plenty of time to load those ATVs on a truck and bring them up. We should back into those bushes and watch."

They began to crawl to the bushes until they were stopped by the leopard was jumped down in front them, her tail swishing, teeth bared.

"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit! We're going to get eaten."

"Don't scare her. She won't hurt us." Maya said.

"How the fuck do you know? She-" Sam began until Asaya let out a low, menacing growl at Sam. Asaya looked at Corey and their eyes locked. Corey felt the world disappear and focused on her, the girl he loved, who was standing in front of him, who could break his neck if she wanted to.

But she didn't.

There was recognition in her eyes and something else, something that took his breath away.

_Pain. Longing. Sadness._

She crouched down and he froze, unable and unwilling to move. Her whiskers were moved back as she looked at him, her hot breath coming out in soft gasps.

She leaned down her head slowly and sniffed him before placing her head gently on his shoulder and he felt the electricity jump in his body at the contact. Oh god, he missed her, he missed her _so much,_ tears were falling down his cheeks and Asaya pulled back, licking his face with that heavy, wet tongue of her and he didn't care. She knew him, knew him and all that anger he felt towards her dissipated and was replaced with love and forgiveness.

She hadn't wanted this. She had no choice. He understood that now and he smiled at her as she stood up.

"I know," he said and she looked at him and turned and ran off into the bushes, disappearing and startling some deers and his heart ached for her but he knew she would be back.

"Holy shit, what the hell was that?" Hayley shrieked until Sam told her to shut up.

"It was her, wasn't it?" Daniel asked and Corey nodded, wiping his tears away. They began to crawl to the bushes and they heard a thud and a shout. The ATV motor died.

Corey's heart raced and hope it wasn't Asaya and prayed she was safe, hidden in the bushes somewhere.

"Son-of-a-bitch!" A man's voice rang through the forest.

A radio squawked. He answered it.

"Yeah, that was me. Just hit a deer. Remind me who had the bright idea to use these damn things? Some project manager sitting in his fancy L.A. office, I'll bet. Never seen a forest, much less tried to search one. I could have hit one of the kids for all I would have noticed, whipping around like this. I can barely see through these woods. Can't hear anything. But you can bet your ass those kids can hear us. If we had the girl, she could've sniffed them out but no, she happened to run off. She cut my damn hand with those claws of hers."

"And a good thing, too," Corey muttered, proud that the man had been hurt.

A voice tried to interrupt the man's tirade, but he cut it off, saying, "Calvin's got the right idea, searching on foot. I'm leaving this piece of crap here. If the Nasts want it, they can come get it. Tell Calvin I'll meet him at the bend in ten."

After laying low for twenty minutes, Daniel and Maya decided they should start towards the cabin.

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	6. Corey 6

Daniel went with Maya to check out the cabin but Corey's mind wasn't on them. It was on her. On Asaya. His mind was having trouble understanding the situation they were in, the situation she was in.

She was back but she was so different. Aside from the fact that she was a damn leopard and she knew him before she ran off into the forest, she was angry, very, very angry and rough. Like she had been abused for so long and that pissed him off.

What had Asaya been through while he was back home, flirting with the girls and making out with them when all along his Asaya had been kidnapped? He heard her say those words to those men, _"stealing me from the guy I love and you've been torturing me,"_

He groaned softly, those words playing over and over in his head, the guilt and shame building in his heart, in his soul. She had been tortured for two years, two damn years while he was busy hating her guts and hooking up with girls to forget her, when all along she never forgot him. She never had a choice. He had to beg for her forgiveness, he had to see her one more time, to hold her and tell her how sorry he was for trying to forget about her, trying to hate her guts when he thought she left him.

But she hadn't left him. Not by choice, those men, those disgusting, murdering men took her and hurt her. He closed his eyes and could see very clearly the hand that slapped her cheek, the sound resonating like a bomb in the clearing and the rage that followed, that still followed when he saw what had happened. He wanted to rip the guy to pieces for laying a hand on her.

But even though she still got slapped, she refused to do what they wanted. That stubbornness that he knew caused so many arguments between the two of them before and after they were together. It was what called to him in the first place, how she stood her ground and refused to budge even if it was the right thing to do.

Damn it, he had to do something for her. Anything because she needed him, had always needed him for the past two years and what had he done? Shoved her memory away like it was nothing, like it was trash.

A growl interrupted his thoughts and he opened his eyes to see a cougar who was snarling and spitting at him and his heart froze with fear. Damn it, he should've known not to let his thoughts wander, especially when there was a dead deer laying on front of the abandoned ATV and they were stuck in a forest, where there were animals who _ate_ dead deer, like the one in front of him and damn it, the cougar was snarling and snapping at _him _because of the deer.

As if he wanted to eat the damn deer or take it away from her. The damn thing could rip him to shreds in seconds while he was still breathing.

"She came for the deer," Maya said, whispering and Corey never felt such relief or anger at the moment until he heard her voice. He knew she had some kind of freaky animal thing going on and it wouldn't surprise him anyways. He just saw the love of his life turn into a fucking leopard, and not just any leopard, a fucking amur leopard. Don't ask him how he knew, he just did and Maya just happened to confirm it. "She's lacatating, which means she has cubs close by. The ATV'S have probably been scaring away the game. She's getting desperate."

"I appreciate the Nature Channel commentary," He said, terrified, relieved, and pissed off at the same time."But it's really not helping Maya."

"Sorry."

"Think you could use some of that animal whisperer mojo? Tell her the deer looks tasty, but she can have it. In fact, I insist." He said, just barely being sarcastic. His heart was pounding so hard, he thought it was going to jump out of his chest.

"You've forgotten everything my dad taught us all about dealing with big cats, haven't you?"

Really? Now she wanted to make him remember all about that speech her father gave in the auditorium a few weeks ago. What was this? A _game?_ This was far from a game.

"Oddly, it slipped my mind. Something to do with seeing six inch fangs a foot from my throat."

"They're two inches, tops, and she's a meter away."

He didn't care if she was hundreds of meters away. He still didn't want to have his throat ripped out either way. Nope, no siree, nuh-uh, not this guy. Not today. He still wanted to live thank you very much.

"Maya..." He began but he couldn't finish his sentence because a big blur jumped in front of him, snarling at the cougar and he nearly died from the fright until he saw who it was, or what it was.

It was the leopard.

The one he somehow just knew was Asaya. It _had_ to be. No other animal in the damn world would jump in front of a human and be snarling crazily at the cougar in front of him.

"Asaya?" He murmured, just to be 100 percent sure and when he saw her tense slightly, he knew it was her.

She had her ears forward, head raised, rear legs still, tail swishing just like the cougar. Maya said something about this being a point of attack that they were both considering and not yet sure it was necessary. Maya began to tell Corey to back up and leave them at it but he didn't want to. He was worried.

For _her._

He didn't want to leave her alone. Not at all. Then again, she had a more chance of survival since she was a fucking animal than he was. Maya and Daniel managed to convince to come back and step away since it would be the only way the leopard would move.

He knew Maya and Daniel knew it was Asaya but were careful to not say her name out loud. He stepped back, reluctantly and slowly and he noticed how Asaya was stepping back, slowly stepping out of her crouch but still growling at the cougar. He had no idea what they were saying or doing but he was praying that Asaya was doing what she could to not have his throat ripped apart.

Once Corey stepped back with Asaya doing the same, the cougar slunk forward, going for the deer. She grabbed it by the neck, then hauling it with her, she swung around, her back to the ATV as she looked over them. Corey noted that Asaya stopped stepping back and was in a crouch, angry and tense now and Corey's heart raced, fearing for her, forgetting about his fear of his throat being ripped apart.

She was in front of them, but mostly in front of Corey and he itched to grab her and pull her back to him, holding like he had been longing to do for two achingly long years now. But he had a hunch she would hate that, being manhandled like an animal when he had no clue as to what she had suffered or for how long.

"Don't move," Maya murmured to them. "Keep eye contact, but don't move."

Corey noted that the cougar looked at Maya before the cat's gaze landed on him. He noticed the cat's eyes widen and her pupils dilated as she lifted her head and seemed to taking in a breath in the air. She growled.

The cougar leaped. Corey saw her fangs flash in a snarl, gaze still locked on his. He was frozen to the spot, dread and terror filling his body, seeping into his bones. He saw the cougar aiming for him.

And saw Asaya running towards her.

Corey yelled and tried to get to Asaya because surely she was going to die. The cougar was bigger than her and she was jumping to his safety, protecting him, giving her life for his. Someone yanked his arm back, covering his mouth as he struggled like a wild man to get to Asaya.

He wouldn't let her do this. No, not anymore. He had to have her again, alive. Either animal or human, he had to have her and tell her he loved her, that he never stopped loving her. That he wanted to apologize for his actions and the words he thought about her.

But would he have time now?

He saw the cougar change targets, hitting Asaya instead and rage filled Corey, an primal, wild rage. He had to stop this.

"Stop! Corey!" Maya begged as she helped Daniel hold him. "You can't interfere!"

He didn't give a damn. He wasn't going to let anything, animal or human hurt _his_ Asaya ever again. Not anymore. He was going to protect her until his last breath. The cougar took Asaya down, and they rolled, snarling and hissing. It wasn't until he saw Maya kick the cat that the rage finally began to ebb away. The cougar fell to the side and inwardly, he cheered.

Asaya would be safe. Maya kicked her again, aiming for her head and the cougar went down hard. Asaya leaped up on her as Kenjii rushed to pin the cougar by the throat.

_"No,"_ He heard Maya say and Daniel let Corey go before rushing to grab Maya. _"No."_

Corey focused his attention on Asaya, who had blood on her shoulder and his heart dropped. He didn't see what happened but he saw the cougar leave, dragging the deer into the woods.

Asaya turned and faced him, snorting before running into the woods, disappearing from them, from _him._

He could understand why she wasn't entering their group but it still hurt him. She was injured from defending him and she rushed away with only a snort. He had no idea when he would see her again or how badly she was hurt. He just wanted to see her. Just _hold_ her one more time.

He missed her. He _ached_ for her. He wanted her back and now that she was, he couldn't do anything to get her to stay. She was an animal now, and he knew she could understand what they were saying and who they were, even if she was wary, looking ready to bolt.

Something the old Asaya would never have done. She had never been wary or look as if there was danger everywhere.

But again, she had been gone for two years and all Corey knew was that she was taken against her will and she had changed.

Turning around, he heard Maya say something about a situation being averted but when his gaze fell upon her, she looked different.

Everyone was staring at her like she had grown a second head.

But she didn't. But she did grow something else. Her hands looked misshapen, wrong, thick with hair and long claws. She rubbed her throat that was now thicker and her arms had tawny hair.

He didn't understand but something clicked in his mind. She looked more animal than human.

She was _becoming_ an animal.

And she looked absolutely terrified and her eyes filled with panic. Daniel squeezed her hand before she ripped it away from his grasp and ran away.

_"Maya!"_ Daniel held as he chased her down and Corey just stared at her, like everyone else were.

Maya was an animal.

She was becoming an animal.

Just like Asaya had been earlier.

Suddenly things began to make sense, his mind connecting the dots, comparing similarities between her and Asaya.

The way they ran faster, climbed higher, can see and smell better.

The way Asaya complained about awful smells that he could never smell.

The way she could always find him.

The way he could never scare her, no matter how quiet he was.

The way she would cock her head to the side when she thought she heard something. She would ask him if he heard that but he could never really hear what she heard.

The way she had started changing weeks before she got taken away. The way she seemed quiet and distant sometimes. Looking at him as if she would never see him again. The way that last time they made love a day before she was gone, she wasn't herself.

She kept telling him she had a secret to tell him and he would ask her what it was but she always, _always_ hesitated until she leaned him and kiss him, straddling him as she moved against him in a way that made his body burn with arousal and his mind hazy with desire.

The way that last time, _she_ had taken control, leading him, begging him to touch her, to make her forget. He knew something wasn't right and he tried to get her to talk but she had used her body and his pleasure to make him forget.

And when they joined as one, he flipped them, kissing her like she was the most fragile thing in the world, his hands clutching the sheets under them as he moved inside of her, whispering how much he loved her and she would cling to him, fingers smacking at his back, her body arching with pleasured gasps and moans. The way she broke skin at his back that gave him slight pain but he ignored it because that night was about her.

And later, when she had left to go home and kissed him almost desperately, he let her go when he should've held on. He saw the next day how his back was red and the scratches that looked deep from her fingernails. The scratches were long and big, not what her nails could do but she never kept them long enough to hurt his back when they made love, but he just shrugged it off when he should've questioned it.

Maybe then she would still be with him, unhurt and unchanged.

Maybe then he could've saved her.

Maybe he could've done something.

But it was too late. That girl he fell in love with wasn't the same and it wasn't because of her changing into animal.

They had broken her and he had no idea if he could fix her again.

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